Death Do Us Part
"Death Do Us Part" is the 44th episode of Desperate Schoolboys. 'Summary' Ted takes Josh and the family to his old home, an isolated ranch with horrible memories. Rena, depressed over Mary leaving, begins visiting Hugo more and the two share some news. Joe struggles to talk to Katie as she becomes obsessed with raising awareness about the new killer in town. And Ben confronts Emma about where she has been and about the notes. 'Plot' 'Teaser' We see Rena who's sitting on the couch sadly, with his father sitting next to him, drinking scotch with an equal amount of sadness. Flash to Rena calling Mary's name, crying as he does so. (See "Connecting the Dots") Flash to Rena being comforted by Justine after having had a bad dream. (See "Pilot") Flash to young Rena and young Ali at the orphanage together, playing with one another. We see Rena sitting opposite Hugo in a nursing home, as the two of them play chess, Rocky sits nearby. "I hate this bloody game," Hugo says, "The nurses insist it's a good exercise for my mind but I don't feel any brighter nor less insane." "Don't talk like that," Rena says, "We can pack it away if you want." "Pack what away?" Hugo asks. "The chess set," Rena tells him, "The thing you were just complaining about." "I'm losing track of the things I'm complaining about in this place. I'm just glad you brought my dog," Hugo says, petting Rocky who appears appreciative to be in the presence of his former master. "How are you doing since the tramp left you?" Hugo asks his grandson. "Don't call her that," Rena says. "Too modern? Do you prefer harlot? Or maybe strumpet?" "She lost a baby, granddad, I don't blame her." "See? What did I tell you? Getting pregnant at seventeen, nothing spells 'slut' more than that." "Granddad, the baby was mine," Rena reminds him. "You're a father? Well congratulations. You've already moved on from that Marisol," Hugo says. "Mary," Rena corrects him. "No thanks, I'm fine," Hugo replies. Rena appears confused for a moment, but soon lets it go. "Anyway, we spend all my visits here talking about me, how have you been lately?" Rena asks. "I'm engaged," Hugo tells him. "What?" Rena asks, a little stunned, "When? How? Who?" "One of the women in the nursing home, her husband just died and I was there to pick up the pieces," Hugo says proudly. "Oh... well, great. When's the wedding?" Rena asks. "Soon," Hugo answers vaguely. "Right..." Rena says. "You know, all the reflection I've been doing since Mary left has got me thinking about Ali. I remembered something the other day. Me and her made a memory box, like... a time capsule, and planted it beneath the orphanage... I'd quite like to go get it," Rena states. "Well then, m'boy," Hugo starts, "That is what we shall do." 'Act I' Flash of Ted coming home with flowers for Joanna, she looks overjoyed as they kiss. Flash Ted at the movie theatre with Josh and Alex. Ted and Josh laugh at the film, together. Flash to Josh reading the article, which reads, Theodore Norwood is the main suspect in the disappearance of a child from Inyo County. Present day. Ted is driving the family car through Wiksteria, with all the Mannings inside and their belongings as they move home. The radio is blaring and Ted is smiling and laughing, "Cheer up, folks. I know you're sad to be leaving your friends, kids, but you'll make new ones. The most important thing is family." Everyone else in the car continues to frown silently. "You needn’t be worried," Ted smiles. The car is now driving through much more rural land, surrounded by only desert. The radio is off, and a more eerie silence is in the car, after the long trip. Joanna says, "The kids are hungry. They need some real food...we've been driving all night and day." "Soon enough," Ted smiles. The car then approaches a farm. It's a large but rundown old ranch. They come to the building, a broken down wooden farmhouse. Alex's eyes widen as he peers through the window, and looks at it with an unsettling nostalgia . Joanna looks at the place in confusion and asks, "What is this?" Ted stares at the wooden house, and utters, "My home." Ted slowly gets the car and ambles off, as if in a gaze, to the door of the house. He creaks open the door and peers inside. The grimy and dull room was clearly once a family home, but long ago. There is no lighting and layers of dust cover all the furniture. Behind him, Joanna and Josh look at each other confused, before getting out and looking around the isolated ranch - located in the middle of desert. Alex gets out the car and he slowly walks over to a chicken coop, in front of the farmhouse. As he does so, the world goes silent - Alex hears nothing. Nothing except the chopping of an axe which continues to thump loudly inside his head. The air grows cold as the wind blows through his hair. ''Inside Alex's head, to where the thumping gets louder, we flash to him inside the chicken coop. He is a little smaller than his current age, as he stands shaking with an axe in his hand. Suddenly he pounces forward and brings the axe down. Alex continues walking to the coop, the fairly big pen that was built to hold and keep chickens. As he gets closer his feet walks past an old bloody axe. He comes to the wooden door of the coop and pushes it open, to look inside, where there is blood splattered on all walls. Alex goes pale and looks at it coldly. Ben is sitting alone in the park, as we enter a flashback in his head. Last Night In the dark woods, Ben is standing across from Emma. "You're alive?" Ben asks in confusion, before screaming, "YOU'RE ALIVE!" Emma merely nods. Ben looks as though he is unable to comprehend what is happening, "Emma, I thought you were dead...I thought I killed you!" "I'm sorry about that," Emma utters. "You're sorry?" Ben asks, "And what about the notes?!" Emma looks confused, "What notes?" "The notes you've been sending me! The photographs! You're earrings! Everything that you sent me! EXPLAIN IT!" Ben shouts, his face raging with anger. Emma calmly shakes her head and says in an innocent voice, "I didn't send you anything, Ben." "Then where have you been? Why didn't you tell anyone that you were alright?" Ben asks. "Because I wanted a fresh start. I tried so hard to get over you Ben, to take your advice of moving on, but I never could with you and Liz always there. So when everyone thought I was dead, I saw my chance to leave and start over," she explains, still in a calm and innocent demeanour. Ben shakes his head with disdain, "You selfish brat. Do you have any idea how I've felt the past months...I thought I was A MURDERER! And your father! Do you have any idea the pain you've put him through? Do you care?!" Emma nods, "That's why I came back. The guilt of the pain I must have caused was becoming too much. I'm so sorry, Ben." Ben shakes his head, "I don't accept your apology, Emma." Ben turns and walks back through the park. Joe knocks on the door to Katie's house, and Katie answers. "Hey, I haven't seen you since... you know. I thought I'd stop by... make sure you're all right." "I'm great, Joe. Ecstatic, in fact. I've been working all night, had like fifty cups of coffee; I am wired. Come see. Come to my room," she says quickly. "Okay..." Joe replies, before being lead upstairs by Katie. He walks into her bedroom where he sees a computer on a desk next to a printer which is printing the same poster frantically. Joe picks one of them up and reads DO YOU WANT TO BE NEXT? followed by instructional safety tips. "You've been making these?" Joe asks. "Yep," Katie replies, "I'm gonna stick them up all over the park. All over the town. All over the state if I have to." "This whole murder thing's really hit you hard, huh?" Joe asks comfortingly. At this, Katie calms down, "If another girl dies because I failed to take precautions, I'll never be able to forgive myself." "I get that," Joe tells her, "Need a hand putting up these fliers?" Katie smiles at this, before picking up a huge pile of posters from the printer and dumping them in Joe's arms. Rena and Hugo are seen approaching the old orphanage, where Rena spent the early years of his childhood. "This is the place..." Rena says, "Looks a little decrepit though." "Onwards we venture," Hugo says, before the two of them make their way indoors. They open the door and walk inside to find that the place is empty. No children. Barely any possessions. Rena appears confused, but soon, Mr. Silver emerges from his office. "Are you here to buy something?" Mr. Silver asks. "Um, no... we're here to look for something," Rena replies. "Filipe... is that you?" Mr. Silver asks. "Indeed it is," Rena replies, "What's happened to this place." "I'm afraid it's been sold," Mr. Silver replies, "The children have been sent elsewhere and any item that you may be looking for was most likely taken with them or has already been bought." "This place... is closing down?" Rena asks, shock in his voice. "As an orphanage, yes," Mr. Silver replies, "But I'm sure it'll make a lovely Starbucks. Now, if you're not here to buy something, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." "No," Rena says, "The thing I'm looking for won't have been sold or taken – it's under the floorboards. It's a memory box I made when I was young." "Under the floorboards, you say? Well, I can hardly allow you to tear up the building. I'll get much less money for it if it's damaged. I'm sorry, Filipe, but I really must insist that you leave now," Mr. Silver instructs. "Come on, Rena, let's get out of here," Hugo says, before leading his grandson out of the building. "What happened to 'that is what we shall do'?" Rena asks once the two of them are outside. "Don't worry, m'boy," Hugo says, "This isn't over..." 'Act II' Inside the farmhouse, Ted is throwing glass bottles off the sofa into a trash bag. He is running around, trying to clean up the old home. Joanna walks in and watches him, "We can't do this. We can't live here." Ted looks at her with a deluded smile, "Well not like this we can't. But once we clean it up... once we rebuild... it'll be the perfect family home." Joanna looks at him, "The perfect family home? Teddy, you've betrayed me. I know who you are now, Theodore Norwood, I read about you. I let you into my life. Into my home. I let you father my child!" "I would never hurt him," Ted tells her. "You should have told me what you are!" Joanna says. "You think that you're the only one who feels betrayed?" Ted asks, "I love you, Joanna. Real love, for the first time ever in my life. And as soon as you found out about the transgressions of my past...you were ready to throw me aside." Joanna interrupts, "You're a killer!" "That is NOT what I am!" Ted tells her, "I have sinned in the past. But as soon as I met you, Joanna, that person, that man who did those horrible things, he died. And I was reborn. By the grace of your love I became a new man, a better man. And all I want is be a good husband...and a good father. I will make this family whole. And I will love you and Josh... and Alex, with all my heart." Joanna shakes, "You can't tell Josh... you can't tell Josh what happened to those children. It would terrify him." Ted tells her, "Theodore Norwood is dead, and I shall protect his wrongdoings from our son." Ted holds her hand and then smiles, "Now come on, let's start fixing our new home." Joe and Katie are seen at the gate of the local park, carrying armful of posters in their hands. We see that they have already stuck them up all over the park. As someone comes through the gate, Katie takes out a flier and hands it to them. "Don't come here after dark. Protect the people you love. Take precautions!" she exclaims. The person takes the flier and looks at it, confused, before tossing it into the trash when he walks around the corner. "I don't think people are really responding to such a... direct approach," Joe tells Katie. "What are you talking about? We've handed out loads of posters," Katie tells him. "Yeah, and that trash can over there is filled with them," Joe points out. "So some people are going to ignore the voice of reason, so what? At least I'll be able to sleep at night knowing if they die, it's their own fault. 'Cause I tried to help them," Katie voices. "Right..." Joe says unsurely, "It's getting kind of dark now, are you sure you don't wanna call it a day?" "Just another hour," Katie says, "If that creep attempts to strike twice, I have pepper spray and a whistle in my purse – that's precaution number twelve." Ben and Liz are walking through the park, after Ben has just updated Liz of Emma's return. "What?! She's alive?!" Liz asks. Ben nods. "And she's been the one stalking you?" Liz asks. Ben shakes his head, "She says no." "Well she's lying," Liz says, "She's never going to accept we're together...she's crazy! She's going to keep..." Ben stops her, "Don't let her bother you. Nothing is going to stop us from being together, Liz, I promise. And I'm going to prove that to you soon." Ben smiles but Liz looks confused, "What do you mean?" "You'll see," Ben tells her mysteriously. They come to Katie who is still shouting about the serial killer and handing out pamphlets. She stops when she sees them, "Hey guys. What's up?" "Emma's back," Liz immediately says. "What?!" Katie asks. Liz nods. "Is she crippled?" Katie asks. Ben looks at her bizarrely, "What?!" "Well she had a fall, right?" Katie says. "Into water..." Ben replies. "It would be okay if she was...I have nothing against limpers...in fact history is full of great ones. Like Franklin Roosevelt, although of course he rolled more than limped. Oh, and Toulouse Lautrec...although he was a little person...but still did well with the ladies...of course, they were all prostitutes. But he's French and there's no explaining their taste," Kate rambles. Ben continues to look baffled, "What on earth is your point?!" "I guess I don't have one..." Katie smiles simply. Ben shakes his head but then Paddy walks over, "Hey Katie, I hear you're raising awareness about the killer, that's great! Let me know if there's anything I can do!" "Great, thanks Paddy," Katie smiles. Paddy then looks at Ben, "How are you, Ben?" he chuckles, "There's no hard feelings between our date I hope you know." Ben nods awkwardly, "Good to hear..." Paddy turns back to Katie, "Things have been dark here lately. What happened to Mary was just horrible." Everyone nods in empathetic agreement. It's now night time at the orphanage and three dark figures are seen approaching it from the distance. However, as the camera moves in, we see that it's Rena, Hugo and Rocky, the former of which is seen to be carrying a crowbar. The three of them approach the front door, and Rena attempts to open it, but is unable to. "It's locked," he says. "You're carrying a crowbar," Hugo reminds him. "Oh yeah," Rena says. He then wields it and bats the door handle, shattering the wood and causing the door to swing open with ease. "We're in!" Rena exclaims happily. "In what?" Hugo asks. "In the orphanage," Rena reminds him. "What orphanage?" Hugo asks. "This one," Rena says, gesturing the inside of the building. "Bloody hell, I'm in an orphanage!" Hugo exclaims, shocked. Rena rolls his eyes and continues to move through the place. He soon reaches the main area. "Twelve paces from the door..." Rena whispers to himself, before taking twelve steps forward. "Here!" he exclaims, pointing downwards. And with that, he lifts the crowbar and swings it down, smashing through the wood of the floor. He then kneels down and drops the crowbar beside him, before pulling out a small box which is shaped like a treasure chest, but covered in colorful glitter and glued-on macaroni. "This is it," Rena says happily, but Rocky suddenly approaches him, sniffing around the hole he made in the floor. "What is it, boy?" Hugo asks, approaching also. Soon, Rocky lifts something from out of the floor with his teeth, and Rena's eyes widen when he sees that it's a human skull. "Oh, my God..." Rena utters as he takes the skull from Rocky's jaw, seeing that the crown is cracked open. "I think there was a murder..." Rena says. "Is that a skeleton?" Hugo asks, intrigued, "Could they have fallen into the floor?" "But if that were true..." Rena points out, "Where's the rest of the skeleton?" "Skeleton?" Hugo asks, confused. "Yes, this one," Rena says, holding up a skull. "Oh my! A skull!" Hugo exclaims, and Rena rolls his eyes again. "Who's is it?" Hugo asks, worried. Rena then closes his eyes, thinking as hard as he can. "I remembered some other stuff when I was thinking of Ali," Rena says, "Some stuff about the orphanage... Mr. Silver had a wife... and they would always fight... and then she disappeared... and... and..." Rena's eyes open, "I think he killed her." 'Act III' In the Ashdale house, Ben is finishing a phone call, "Okay, thank you very much, Mrs. Harold, you've been very helpful...I'll come and collect it in the morning....Good night." Ben then puts the phone down, having finished the conversation, just as there is a knock at the door. He goes over to open it - revealing Emma is on the other side. "What do you want?" Ben asks coldly. "I wanted to try apologising again," Emma explains. "I don't want to hear it," Ben tells her, "I don't want to ever see you again, Emma. Why don't you just go back to wherever it was you came from?" "Not until I make things right here," Emma says. Ben shakes his head, "Then you'll be here awhile." "Can I come in?" Emma asks. Ben looks shocked, "What?!" "Please, I need somewhere to spend the night," Emma says. "Are you insane?!" Ben yells. Emma explains, "Please, my father was so angry that he won't let me in the house. And Katie or Liz won't talk to me. I'm not wanted anywhere." "That includes here," Ben adds. "Please, Ben, I'm going to have to sleep on the streets," Emma says. "Then I would avoid the park...there's a killer out there," Ben says coldly, before shutting the door on her. Emma shouts after him, "I'm going to prove to you that I've changed!" But Ben has already closed the door. Dean is banging on the door of the Mannings old home, but there is no answer. "Josh! Josh, you haven't replied to my messages! Just open the door, I haven't seen you in days! Josh, I'm sorry!" he stops the calling, and then peers into the window of the living room. He looks confused as things are packed up and the place is empty. The sun is setting behind the rocky mountains. Under the red sky Josh is sitting on the desert ground near the chicken coop, trying to get a signal on his phone but to no avail. Suddenly Ted comes from behind, "You won't get a signal out here, Joshy. No one or no thing around for miles." "How do you know I won't run away?" Josh asks. "There's nowhere to go. I tried to run away many a time, when I was a young like yourself. To run from this place. But my old man always caught me. He would drive out in his car and find me alone in the desert, and then he'd take me home. And then he'd beat me senseless," Ted utters this with pain in his eyes but he quickly pulls himself together with a smile, "Luckily for you I'm not my old man." Ted sits down beside him but Josh looks off silently. "I'm sorry that I took you from your life," Ted says, "But now we've got ourselves a clean slate. And a better life is on the horizon." Ted looks at Josh and then sighs, "When you found that article of me...when you spat at me as if I was some kind of rabid animal, I felt happy, Josh. I was happy 'cause such a visceral reaction could only come from a person who still cares. You could only be so angry at the betrayal, if because there was something strong between us before. And we can be like that again, father and son. I will love you, Josh, and always protect you. Eventually you'll stop being angry, and then we can be a family." Ted smiles and pats Josh on the shoulder, "I'll leave you to your thoughts." Ted gets up and walks off, back to the farmhouse. Josh continues to sit silently, looking angry and sick. He takes back out his phone and continues searching for a signal, but there is nothing. Suddenly he punches the sandy ground in frustration. He exhales angrily and then continues to punch the land, however his fist hits something. He looks confused and begins to unbury what's hidden underneath - it's a child's skull. He picks it up and stares at it in shock. The image of Josh holding the child's skull fades into an image of Rena holding that of Mrs. Silver. He then looks over to Mr. Silver, who's being taken out of his office in handcuffs by police. "Well Gramps, looks like we solved the mystery of Mrs. Silver..." Rena pauses, "That sounds like the ending to an episode of Scooby Doo... we even have a dog," Rena gestures Rocky, who stares up at him as if to say "Rog? Rare?". Rena then approaches Mr. Silver, still holding the skull in his arms, "I'm sorry I dug up your wife," Rena says. Mr. Silver's eyes widen, "My wife? Filipe, my wife died of cancer sixteen years ago. What do you mean you dug her up?" "We... we found her skull..." Rena says, holding it up. Mr. Silver inspects it with his eyes, before declaring, "You may wanna take a closer look at that." At this, Rena begins moving the skull around his grip, before seeing something etched along the back: "Made in China," he reads aloud, "But I don't understand..." he says. He then takes a proper look at the skull, and suddenly flashes back. We see little Rena and little Ali in Mr. Silver's office, staring up at a model skull which is resting on the pedestal on the desk. "Ooh," Ali says, "Spooooky." "We should put it in our memory box!" Rena exclaims happily, holding up the glitter and macaroni-covered chest. "I'll get it down," Ali says. She then begins to shake the desk until the skull falls down, the crown of it cracking is this happens. "I think I owe you an apology," Rena tells Mr. Silver. "You think so?" Mr. Silver asks. Rena then approaches the police officers and tells them that he made a mistake, that the skull is a fake and that Mrs. Silver was buried elsewhere. The police shrug and turn to Mr. Silver as one of them un-cuffs him, "This kid and the old man still committed breaking and entering. Are you going to press charges?" "No," Mr. Silver tells him, "I think not." And with that, the officers shrug at one another, before leaving. "I'm sorry, Mr. Silver," Rena tells him. "It's perfectly all right," Mr. Silver tells him, before strolling casually back into his office. "Well, we best get home, gramps," Rena says. "You gonna put that skull back?" Hugo asks. "No," Rena says, having a brief flash of he and Ali handling it and smiling, "I think I'll keep it." As Rena, Hugo and Rocky exit the building, Rena opens the memory box, which is discovers plays beautiful music upon opening. At this, he smiles, before delving around inside. He pulls out quite a few photographs of he and Ali in the orphanage. The two of them playing together and talking and hugging. He smiles wider to himself as he flicks through them, looking further through the box to find drawings that he and Ali did. Random ones. He pulls one out that features the two of them, holding hands with a circle around them and the shaky caption of Bezt Frends. Under all this, Rena sees that a video tape is at the bottom of the box. Back home, Rena is seen placing the tape into an old VCR, and the image appears on the screen of he and Ali. "Hello, I'm Filipe," "And I'm Ali," the two of them say. "And this is our memory box!" they exclaim in unison. As the video continues, a tear of joy goes down Rena's face. It is now night time at the park, but Joe and Katie are still carrying fliers. "Doesn't this go against precaution number five?" Joe asks, "Being in the park after dark?" "Yes, but what if someone else comes in? Saving them is more important than saving ourselves," Katie says. "Is it?" Joe asks. Katie looks at him, shocked, "Of course it is!" "Okay, what's this really about?" Joe asks. "What do you mean?" Katie exclaims, "This is about helping people!" "Are you sure it doesn't go deeper?" Joe asks. "What do you want me to say, Joe? Do you want me to say I'm scared? Because I am! I'm scared! I'm scared and I don't know what to do besides what I'm doing!" she yells, tearing slightly. Before Joe can respond, a twig is heard snapping in the adjacent woods. "That could be the killer..." Katie whispers. "Or it could be campers; we don't know," Joe points out. "If it's campers, then we have nothing to worry about, do we?" Katie asks, pulling a rape whistle from out of her purse and putting it around her neck, before approaching the woods. "Are you sure this is wise?" Joe asks, "We should get the police!" "Joe, shush! It could be the killer! And by the time the police arrive, he'll be gone! This might be our one and only chance!" "Alright..." Joe says, "Do you happen to have a gun in that bag?" Katie shakes her head, before retrieving her pepper spray and tossing it to Joe, who catches it, "Arm yourself," she whispers. The two of them continue to approach the woods quietly as another twig is heard snapping, and they approach the noise. Another twig. They change direction. Another snap. Another change. Soon enough, Joe and Katie are running. Running through the woods. They follow the noise of footsteps coming closer but Joe suddenly trips, dropping the pepper spray in the process. "Katie! Wait!" he calls, seeing that she is still running, apparently not having noticed that he'd gone down. Joe stands up and dusts himself off, but Katie is out of sight now. "Katie?" Joe calls, walking through the trees. "Katie?!" Suddenly, Katie's rape whistle is heard, and Joe appears shocked. He runs, attempting to find the noise's source, and the whistle keeps being blown. There is a sound of a struggle and the whistle's noise ends. Joe stops, listening for a sound of movement. Suddenly, Katie screams, and Joe begins running again. "KATIE?! KATIE?! KATIE?!" Joe cries, over and over again, but Katie's anguished screams continue to go unfound. He tries to follow the sound but Katie's screams end abruptly. "KATIE?!" Joe calls, stopping again. "KATIE?!" He continues to search the woods, but to no avail. "KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATIIIIIIIIIIE?!!!!!!!!!!" Flash to Rena sitting on his couch, again flicking through the photographs. Behind him, we see the drawing of he and Ali hung up in a frame. Flash to Ted, Joanna, Josh and Alex having a "family dinner" at the ranch. Flash to Joe in the woods, still screaming Katie's name. We see Ben walking into a shop in Wiksteria with a sign reading ''Mrs. Harold's Jewellers. An old woman, Mrs. Harold, appears behind the counter. "Hello, Benjamin," she greets. "Hello, Mrs. Harold," Ben replies politely, "Do you have it?" Ben asks. "I do, but it's going to be quite expensive," the old woman replies. "It's okay," Ben assures her, "I've been saving for this for a while." Mrs. Harold pulls a small box from under the counter and slides it over the top. Ben opens the box to reveal a diamond engagement ring sitting inside. He smiles, "Oh, that's beautiful. Liz will absolutely love this." Category:Season 4 Category:Episodes Category:Flashback Episodes